This exercise allows learners to get some direct hands-on photography experience, and helps to break up the "sitting" portion of the day.
Have in mind a good nearby location, outdoors or in depending on your area and weather. Choose a general focus, by group -consensus, to help narrow down the possible subjects for the shoot. Examples include: Extreme Close Ups, People at Work, Urban Landscape! Landmarks, Rural Landscape! Landmarks, Kids at Play, Cars, Sky! Cloud patterns etc. Each student will have a camera, and will load with a 12-photo roll of film. (If using digital cameras, decide with the group in advance whether you want to shoot low, mid or high grade images. If the group chooses mid or high grade images, make sure you have enough memory in the cameras or peripheral storage to save at least 70 shots per student.)
Participate with your students in the composition and focus (close up, mid-ground, panoramic) of their photographs. This is not a "technical exercise", however, so keep the activity fun and exploratory.
Have learners keep a written record of their shots in their notebooks, so that they will remember the subject and location of each photo after developing (especially important for extreme closeups!). A fun idea is to take candid shots of the students as they are at work on their own photos.
The instructor will take film for developing at an inexpensive film outlet (usually cheapest at department and grocery stores). These "casual" shots will be kept in student portfolios and can used throughout the project as a base for written exercises. (If using digital cameras, have students be responsible for choosing and printing 3 or 4 of their shots for each shoot, and perhaps choosing, processing/ manipulating and printing their best shot on photo-quality paper for the student gallery.).